Lewis-Williams, James David

Basic Biographical Information

David Lewis-Williams was born in 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa. He undertook his undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town, graduating in 1956. He began teaching English and Geography at Selborne College in 1958, moving to Kearsney College in 1963. In 1965, he completed an honors degree at the University of South Africa. While at Kearsney College, he was active in running the student archaeology club. It was with students from this club that Lewis-Williams began exploring the Drakensberg mountains for San rock art. It was also during this time that he met John Argyle, an anthropologist at the University of Natal (now, the University of KwaZulu-Natal). Argyle encouraged Lewis-Williams to pursue his interest in San rock art by writing a Ph.D thesis. The thesis was completed in 1978 at the University of Natal and was then published in 1981. Entitled Believing and Seeing: Symbolic Meanings in Southern San Rock Paintings, the published thesis has...